The Mens Nature Reserve

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The Mens

The Mens woodland sits only a few miles from the old wood pasture at Ebernoe Common but is very different in character. A largely unex­plored wood, it certainly has an untamed, mysterious feeling to it and many people describe it as ‘wild’.

A long and varied history of management has seen the reserve move from an open, wood pasture system with huge, spreading parkland trees and pollards to a high forest with closely spaced trees with narrow crowns. A lack of management in recent years has added to this silvicultural diversity. The unusual name of this area comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘ge-mænnes’, meaning common land.